Consecration

I am always open to learning, so recently I joined an online book club and one of the e-books to be discussed is John G. Lake’s Adventures in God…I read ahead because the book club is starting officially on the 7th of October.

At the end of the book was John G. Lake’s personal consecration…which says:

John G.Lake’s Consecration Statement as A Christian.
My Consecration as A Christian I, this day, consecrate my entire life to glorify my Heavenly Father by my obedience to the principles of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. All my effort from now on will be directed in an effort to demonstrate the righteousness of God in whatsoever I may be engaged…

Principle 1All the things earthly that I possess shall not be considered my own, but belonging to my Heavenly Father, and shall be held in trust by me to be used and directed by the wisdom of the Spirit of God, as the law of love of men as Christ loved them may dictate. If at any time God should raise up men wiser than myself, I will gladly commit my all to their use and turn over all my possessions to them for distribution. If at any time in my life I should be engaged in any earthly business and should employ men to aid me in conducting it, I shall reward them justly and equally, comparing their own energy expended with My own after adding a sufficient amount to my own to cover all risk that may be involved in the operation of my business. I shall consider my employees my equals with rights to the blessings of nature and life equal to my own. I shall not strive to elevate myself to a position of comfort above the rest of my employees and shall direct all my efforts to bring all mankind to an equal plane, where all enjoy the comforts of life and fellowship together.

Principle 2
I shall not cease to cry to God and implore Him to deliver mankind from the effects of sin so long as sin lasts, but shall cooperate with God in the redemption of mankind. I will have seasons of prayer and fasting in behalf of mankind, weeping and bewailing their lost condition and imploring God to grant them repentance unto life as the Spirit of God may lead me.

Principle 3
I shall live my life in meekness, never defending my own personal rights, but shall leave all judgment To God who judges righteously and rewards all according to their works. I shall not render evil for evil or railing for railing, but shall bless all and do good to enemies in return for evil. By God’s grace I shall keep all hardness and harshness out of my life and actions, but shall be gentle and unassuming, not professing above what God has imparted to me, nor lifting myself above my brethren.

Principle 4I shall consider righteous acts as more necessary to life and happiness than food and drink, and not let myself be bribed or coerced into any unrighteous action for any earthly consideration.

Principle 5
By God’s grace I will always be merciful, forgiving those who have transgressed against me and endeavoring to correct the ills of humanity instead of merely punishing them for their sins.

Principle 6
I shall not harbor any impure thoughts in my mind, but shall endeavor to make my every act uplifting. I shall regard my procreative organs sacred and holy and never use them for any purpose other than that which God created them for. I shall regard the home as sacred and always guard my actions in the presence of the opposite sex, so as not to cause a man and his wife to break their vows to one another. I shall be chaste with the opposite sex who are married, considering them as sisters. I shall be careful not to cause them undue pain by playing on their affections. I will always strive to be a peacemaker.

First, by being peaceful myself and avoiding all unfruitful contentions, and treating all with justice and regarding their rights and their free agency, never trying to force any to my point of view. If I should offend anyone knowingly, I shall immediately apologize. I will not scatter evil reports about any person and so try to defame their character, or repeat things that I am not certain of being true. I will strive to remove the curse of strife among brethren by acting as a peacemaker.

Principle 7
I shall not become discouraged when I am persecuted on account of the righteousness mentioned above nor murmur on account of any suffering I undergo, but shall gladly give my life rather than depart from this high standard of life, rejoicing because I know I have a great reward in Heaven. I shall strive to make the above principles the ideal of all the world and give my life and energy to see mankind get the power from God to practice the same. John G. Lake… The End

After going through this, I said let me adopt it as mine but when I looked at it again, I hesitated…I asked myself, are you really ready to do all this or you want to claim it because you like what it says?

Here I was claiming I love God but I was not ready to give up on things…I wanted to know and serve God on my own terms…then I came across Matthew 10:37-39: “…if you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it. (NLT)” then I realize I do love my life more than God, my lips say I lay it down but my body refused to lay down.

Most of the things he wrote in that consecration are not new, they are just biblical instructions personalized.

Love is an action word, how do I show my love…do I rely on his mercy and grace to do whatever I want? Am I even ready to really take action in this Christian race? These questions and more are what raced through my mind as I considered this consecration over and over?

Take a look at this consecration once more…

Are you ready to take the love walk and do the work?

Can you say this consecration and mean it wholeheartedly without looking back or holding back?

Can you say Lord I lay down my life and mean it?

Are you willing to be Christ-like? Or you are satisfied where you are taking each day as it comes and living in barely getting by lane…

It’s not only about the money you know…I believe there is more to God than what he can give me, I want the fellowship, that friendship, that father and daughter relationship where my will can be merged with his and everything flows in unison

I am tired of lazy Christianity where I just go wherever life throws me and say that is God’s will whatever happens, when the Bible says differently…I am not saying everything will be rosy because we live in the world and the devil is here but standing up with that assurance that I go here because he said I should not because of guesswork.

Even though it will take the grace of God and conscious obedience not to default on any of it… I resolve this day to say it and mean it no matter how ‘difficult’ it may seem… besides we are built for hard work.